


Day 268

by ughfitz (wokemeup)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Undercover, Undercover as a Couple, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-21 22:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9568679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wokemeup/pseuds/ughfitz
Summary: Take one researcher and put him in a car with Detective Jemma Simmons for an undercover surveillance...things don’t always go according to plan. Detective/Researcher AU





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a section of a journal article I was reading for school. You can find the article [here](http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1468794115622529)! It was very interesting as a whole, but there's one part where I stopped and was like 'definite au material!' 
> 
> This fic falls under the whole 'not my fave thing I ever wrote,' but I'm trying to post all of my works in oder to improve my writing! Also, no beta for this, so any errors are my own. Enjoy!

"Fitz," Jemma whispered.    
  
"Yeah?" he mumbled in response. Currently, his head buried into a package of crisps held in one hand and a thick stack of notes in the other.  
  
Looking up, he noticed that Ward, 'Subject 1,' was no longer half-asleep in the car across the street from them.  Instead, he was sitting up straighter, more attuned to his surroundings with his mobile plastered to the side of his face as he put the car into motion and slowly rolled out of the cul-de-sac.  It was a dreary Friday morning, the clouds casting a bleak gray over the entire neighborhood that only served to highlight the red car and its passengers.  

 

Over the radio, they heard Hunter's voice crackle out only to be muffled for several moments as he moved to conceal himself deeper into the bushes that sat only several steps away.    
  
"I've got eyes on Ward," he whispered out.  "Looks like he's talking to someone, probably Garrett." Suddenly full, Fitz crumpled his snack to the floor and looked over at Jemma, her body tense.  In his several months as lead researcher for Dr. Radcliffe, Fitz had only ever been involved in two "dangerous" situations.  And the last time he had only been subjected to Hunter's life threatening driving and the glaring eyes of Bobbi when they got back to headquarters.  Now, however, he felt for the first time since beginning his involvement in the research, true danger.  Aided by the look on Jemma's face and the way she had unintentionally migrated closer to him, Fitz reached out and grabbed her hand giving it a slight squeeze – whether to ease her nerves or his own, he wasn’t quite certain.    
  
When Dr. Radcliffe had first proposed the idea to him nearly a year and a half ago, Fitz had scoffed. He was a researcher, not some wannabe covert police investigator.  Even the simplest of lies left him red in the cheeks and hands nervously twitching.  His mum had always told him it was best just to get the truth out with, otherwise his face would do the talking for him.    
  
And then, on top of that, when Chief Coulson had introduced him to the detective he'd be shadowing for the duration of the study, he had nearly quit right on the spot.  Jemma Simmons was not like any of the other detectives he had met.  She was young, around his age, and nothing like the scraggly group of misfits that filtered in and out of the precinct.  She was equally brilliant as she was beautiful, the ease of being around her a stark contrast to the rough and tough nature of covert policing.  Perhaps, as he had noted several times, that was what made her so brilliant at her job.  Who would ever suspect someone as kind as her to be a police officer?  And so, when she had walked right up to him and stuck out her hand with a brilliant smile, Fitz had lost all hope of any communication.    
  
"Hello, Dr. Fitz, I'm Jemma, Jemma Simmons.  Though as I've learned since beginning this job, I find it best to stick to my backstory.  It helps me to stay in character. Shall we start over, Dr. Fitz?" She smiled brightly at him, and all he could do was stare blankly back  at her.  Smile faltering for just a moment, Jemma shrugged her shoulders and stuck out her hand again. "Hello, Dr. Fitz, I'm Jenna, Jenna Simons.  Nice to meet you." The hopeful look on her face and the utter sincerity in the word 'nice' had lingered with her even through some of the lowest points in the last year of the study.    
  
Having finally gotten over his inability to speak around Jemma (it had taken several awkward days), a strong bond had forged between the two.  She was always curious about his research, coming in each morning with a steaming cup of tea and a million questions, each more curious than the next.    
  


Her warm smile and the passion she had for her work only fueled the butterflies in his stomach and the gravitation pull he felt towards her.  She was his best friend and colleague, and somewhere along the way, he had fallen for her.

 

\---

  
Today marked the 268th day of research for Fitz.  It was the 268th day and he was only just now experiencing true fear and the actual possibility of death.  
  
Looking over at Jemma again, his heart faltered.  Of course he knew how strong she was, she could easily beat him in a hand-to-hand fight and smash him any word search, but that didn't stop the fear for both her and himself he felt coursing throughout his body.  Garrett and his goonies, particularly Ward, weren't just the lowly con artists.  They were dangerous, deadly in the most simplest of surveillances.    
  
Hunter's voice crackling over the comms broke the eerie silence in the car and both Fitz and Jemma jumped, her hand squeezing around his instinctively.  "Looks like they didn't spot us. Ward's leaving, and Garrett hasn't come out of the house yet.  Be on the lookout, Garrett's compromised surveillance before."  Sagging in minute relief, Fitz looked over at Jemma and smiled.  
  
Returning the gesture, she sighed.  "I love this, but I also hate this," she smiled.  "I'm just glad I have you, I hate doing surveillance alone."  Heart suddenly beating faster, Fitz was about to respond when he noticed the red car return, and for a moment that seemed to last a lifetime, the color drained from his face as the eyes of a small child in the back seat locked with his.    
  
"Jemma," he called out, willing his voice to not sound as scared as he suddenly felt.  "Jemma, a kid jus--" he was cut off by Hunter over the speakers.    
  
"Fitz, mate, I think that kid just spotted you." Sure enough, the red car veered into the cul-de-sac and all of them, the three there at the location, and the eyes back at headquarters, all held their breath as Ward stepped out, his eyes scanning the scene.  Locking eyes on their spot in the car, Ward mouthed something into the phone, the door to the house he was at opening moments later.   Without warning, the man from the house began walking.    
  
Counting his steps with a bated breath, Fitz didn't realize how quiet the car had become.  The cool air that had once been washing over them had stopped, and the sound of the radio had long been silenced.  Almost too late, Fitz realized that the man was not walking towards Ward, but towards them instead.  Barely hearing Jemma recite Garrett's movements to the others over the radio, he felt his whole body stiffen at her next words, words that were directed towards him.    
  
"Fitz," she spoke out softly but with authority.  "I need you to kiss me."  Twisting slowly in his seat to get a better look at her, his own fear vanished as he saw the look of determination etched onto her face.  Nodding ever so slightly, Fitz carefully wrapped his arms around Jemma and dipped his head closer to her face, her hair cascading around them creating a curtain of protection.  Assuming that no actual kiss was needed to fool a suspect like Subject 2, he was surprised when he felt her lips ghost over his own.    
  
Suddenly forgetting the danger of the situation, his attention became all consumed by the woman in front of him.  They had been toying around with each other for months, their personalities perfectly suited for one another.  In his time researching, he often found himself forgetting that they both had work to do, instead relishing in the easy conversations they shared and the utter bliss he felt in finally having found a friend he felt like he didn't have to hide his true self from.    
  
After the first contact, the dam broke and the kisses were free flowing.  There was a spark between them he wished was real and not just from the anxiety of the situation.  Some time later, lips swollen and hair pushed up at odd angles, they leaned back as Hunter's voice informed them that the situation was over, the were clear to move out.  Looking over at Jemma, he noticed her head leaned back against the headrest, her eyes closed.    
  
Suddenly angry at himself for not restraining himself better, he took a deep breath and cleared his throat.  "Jemma," he began.  "Look, I'm...I'm sorry for doing that.  It was unprofessional and it crossed the line, and I know you don't like breaking the rules, an--"  
  
"Dinner," she cut off his rambling.    
  
"Yeah, yeah" he mumbled out glumly.  "I'll leave you be for dinner.  Got some notes to catch up on anyways."  
  
"No, Fitz." She spoke in only the way Jemma Simmons could do, both kind and authoritatively.  "Dinner. You and me, if that's alright?" Stunned, Fitz felt like that first day when he met her, completely speechless.  "I was hoping you weren't doing anything tonight, but if you have notes to get caught up on, I suppose we could postpone the date."  
  
"Date?" His mind felt like molasses.  
  
"Yes, Fitz!  Oh, you silly man.  You know, for a doctor you can be quite dense." Chuckling at him, Jemma reached over the console and carefully grabbed his hand.  "Fitz, I'm asking you out on a date. Would you...do you, oh, I hope I'm not misinterpreting this.  Do you not want to go on a date?" Biting her lip in the way she always did when she was nervous, Fitz nearly laughed.    
  
Instead, shaking his head, he squeezed her hand back and looked her straight in the eyes.  "Jemma, I would like more than anything to go on a date and have dinner with you." Letting out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, she surged forward and captured his lips in a searing kiss.  Knowing this time that she felt that same things he did, that the kiss wasn't some sort of stealth move to conceal their identities from the drug dealers they were trying to catch, he smiled.    
  
Fitz loved research, he loved solving the puzzles to the many questions the universe had left him.  But more than anything, he loved kissing Detective Jemma Simmons and knowing that it wasn't some ruse, but that she felt the same way for him.    


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated :)


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